Dogs In Restaurants

[Dabs]

We were eating at IHOP yesterday, as we sat there, a gentleman walked in with a large dog, it was a seeing eye dog, that was obvious, the guy was blind. My granddaughter almost came unglued! :lol: She knows about seeing eye dogs, but she didn't understand they were allowed places regular dogs can not go. But she brought up a good point, she asked me why it is still allowed tho? Because a dog is a dog. If someone brought in a small Yorkie and held them in a purse or small bag, and even if it sat still the whole time and kept quiet, it's still a dog in a restaurant.
Now with a seeing eye dog, it's a much larger dog of course. And my granddaughter went on to say, the dog can't point out to the guy what he was eating. So I kind of wondered myself, why would a person need a seeing eye dog to go eat in a restaurant? I need to add, this guy was not alone, he had 2 other people with him. But his dog did sit down beside his table, and all the while we were there, the dog never moved.
But in a way, isn't that still kind of unsanitary, in some way? Maybe unsanitary is not the word I'm looking for. But a dog in a restaurant, any animal in a restaurant, just doesn't seem right.
But I didn't complain to anyone, and honestly, I really don't care. I was just curious as to what some others might think of that situation.

 

[Major]

Seeing eye dogs are specially trained and most likely won't cause any problems with other customers at the restaurant. I think it would be a bad idea to allow normal pets in restaurants. I'm not sure if there are any laws against it, but I would figure each individual establishment would decide on their own to ban pets since it could disturb other people. I know it's pretty common in France (and maybe all around Europe and other parts of the world) for people to bring their dogs to restaurants.

 

[Jeanie]

I'm sure it's a violation of public health codes to allow just any dog in a restaurant. Whether this man had other people with him is irrelevant. That's like saying someone who is wheelchair-bound had other people with him who could have carried him in so he didn't have to rely on his chair to get him where he needed to be. A blind person who uses a guide dog relies on that dog to get around. The Americans with Disabilities Act would trump local health codes in this case

 

[Impact]

Yeah, considering the special training the seeing dogs go through they are unlikely to cause as much trouble. To me, the dogs are a part of that person, they come as a package. Not allowing the dog in is discriminating against the blind person.

 

[Raos]

Just because he was there with other people really does not mean much. The blind man may have walked to the restaurant from his apartment and met his friends there.

As for it being unsanitary, there are millions of people who own pets and eat with them in their house every day. As long as the dog is not jumping on the surfaces used to prepare the food or licking the spoons or something like that then I do not see the big deal. I think a bigger deal is how the dog behaves in the restaurant. A barking dog would be an issue for me. A dog running loose would be an issue for me. A dog sitting still and quiet by its owners side would not bother me in the least.

The other thing to consider though is some people are scared of dogs and would not want to be around them because of fear. That is something a restaurant would have to decide for themselves though, if they want to alienate that segment of their patronage.

 

[Pugz]

Guide dogs can come in various sizes now, too. I've seen spaniels as guide dogs before :lol: They're well behaved working dogs, they're not going to sit and whine; the only danger i see is a worker accidently tripping/stepping on one if they're not paying attention.

 

[Crouton]

How is it so unsanitary? Seeing eye dogs are some of the best trained dogs in the world! They are clean, quiet, smart and only there so that their owner can visit the restaurant. Yet you think it is unsanitary? You would be surprised I think with how clean dogs can be. I once did research on the study of bacteria within dogs mouths and bacteria within the average human mouths. Dogs came back with a startling 70% (from memory) less bacteria in their mouth. Compared to dogs humans are gross. Especially something like a guide-dog... he was probably the cleanest thing in the place.

 

[JaneSmith]

Do you ever eat dinner at friends homes who have dogs?
Have you ever seen an IHOP kitchen?
What exactly is unsanitary? Do dogs have poop all over them? hehe.

In Germany it's fashionable to take dogs to restaurants. They love dogs more than children there.

 

[Shwa]

I can totally understand the concept of the guy having a seeing-eye dog as an aid, with or without other people. Yes it's a bit unsanitary (if the haven't used the bathroom before hand), or even if they were not as trained as they looked and caused a ruckus. But for the most part, visual aid animals are super sweet and well trained like they were pure bred.

But I can't stand people who bring in portable dogs in a restaurant and go crazy about them (carry in the purse, or in their arm, etc). That annoyed the hell out of me to no end. Then they parade the dog like it's one of a kind or friggin special than anyone else in the whole building. There was an instance where I told a lady who was going gaga over her pet and making a scene to "take the rat outside". Obviously she was upset and called management, but the management told her pretty much the same thing, take it outside or leave. Some places allow it, I understand, but not the majority of eating establishments.

I like dogs a lot, but I know they don't belong inside an eating establishment, if I brought my dog out to eat, hopefully its spring or summer, I would eat outside with my buddy. It's a common courtesy to the other patrons and I wont leave my bud outside alone.

~Shwa

 

[JaneSmith]

Sanitary? You don't know if the last guy who touched the doorknob has gonoreah or the flu or picked his nose.
Are we germophobes?
The guy needs assistance from a helper. Maybe we can volunteer to help him ourselves. Maybe we can ask him how his day has been and say hello. Maybe we can tell him that it's good to see him and how beautiful the day is. Maybe we can tell him how lucky he is to have a helper and nice dog.
Jez.